Warren Zanes can rattle off a litany of facts about the history of rock music, but it’s the unexpected gems that he treasures the most.
Zanes is a musician (solo and formerly of the Del Fuegos), writer (Rolling Stone, The Oxford American), university professor (Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, most recently) and vice president at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He is also the host of “The Craft,” a series of touring shows fueled by artist interviews and sponsored by the Rock Hall and Miller Genuine Draft. “The Craft” takes a closer look at acclaimed contemporary musicians, including Patty Griffin, Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Elvis Costello.
Zanes will stop by the Fillmore Auditorium on Monday to talk to Ben Gibbard, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter behind indie rock mainstays Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service. The national touring show combines the artist interview with musical performances (tickets are free, visit ‘s Concerts/Events link for details).
We spoke to Zanes about our fascination with the stories behind our favorite songs and the under-appreciated ubiquity of pop music.
Q: Why should the average person be interested in this interview series?
A: These aren’t interviews for musicians alone. When somebody comes to a “Craft” event, they leave knowing a whole lot more about music they love, but also thinking more about the process of its gestation. It makes for a deeper listener.
Q: Why is it important to be a deeper listener?
A: There’s something in being a player myself and a student of the art form that always strikes me. When I’m teaching on a university campus, no matter the subject, I’m trying to get students engaged. And it’s tough. But after class when they’re leaving, 95 percent of them are listening to music within 30 seconds of leaving the classroom. That’s engaged.
Q: So music is more ingrained in our lives than we realize?
A: It’s a cultural form that’s closer to us than any other. But the paradox is even though it’s under our skin, we don’t know a whole lot about it.
Q: Do you hope to inspire new musicians through this series?
A: Not specifically, but if you sit in a room and listen to a conversation about making music, there’s no way you can’t come out a better listener. It always surprises me how little time we dedicate to talking about music, no matter how much time we spend listening to it.
Q: You’ve interviewed everyone from Chuck D to Neil Diamond for the Cleveland-based version of this. How do you choose the artists?
A: There’s no real rhyme or reason, but a lot has to do with (the artists’) schedules. We try to find artists who we feel are the most significant practitioners today.
Q: Define “significant.”
A: There are some artists that cannot thrive unless they’re taking that risk, and Ben Gibbard is in that class. We started with Elvis Costello, one of the finest examples of this. He challenges his audience’s attention constantly.
Q: Are the best parts the unexpected bits?
A: Yeah. A meaningful moment that often happens is when an audience shows up because they love Patty Griffin, for example. They know her inside and out, and on some level her work has changed them. That’s a best-case scenario in our relationship with art. But when Patty starts to talk about the music that did that to her, a connection is made. The audience recognizes she started doing what she did because some piece of music just got in there and worked on her.
Q: So it’s a way to humanize artists?
A: Right. Once everybody’s there in this room full of music-lovers, it tells you something about these stars, who otherwise feel like they’re at a distance from us.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
IF YOU GO
Ben Gibbard
ROCK/INTERVIEW|”The Craft” series, Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St.; 9 p.m. Monday|FREE|There is no admission charge, but if you want to attend you need to go to , click on Local Events, and on that page click on the second link down – MGD/Rock Hall “Craft” series.
